[sjbartnikowski]

So this booster i bought only has On and Off. Should I return it and get something different?

 

[sjbartnikowski]

Thanks folks. I exchanged the Super Start booster for a Schumacher 15a AGM-compatible charger. Plugged it in and the readout told me the battery was at 3.3V. So that's going to be plugged in for a few hours.

Hopefully this works. The electronic parking brake is on, it's backed into my garage and it's really awkward to get in and out because of the limited space in the driveway. Towing it out will be interesting if it comes to that.

 

[sjbartnikowski]

Well folks - the Schumacher gave up and called it a bad battery. It also was convinced the thing was a 6V battery. (It's a 6V / 12V compatible unit.)

Going to call the dealer before I have roadside assistance sent out. Maybe there's a fuse I can pull to release the parking brake?

 

[sjbartnikowski]

My apologies everybody if I'm missing something in this thread. It seems like there's a dead 12 volt battery, and we're trying to figure out how to get the car out of the garage to get it to the dealer to put in a new battery.
If that sums it up, why don't we just put in a new battery. My wife has a 21 Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, the 12 volt battery is underneath the passenger front seat. I recently replaced that with a Odyssey AGM battery and while it was a bit of a pain in the rear, it's doable.
Even if the owner is not mechanically inclined, I think it would be easier to call a mobile mechanic or one of those battery services that come out to replace the battery. I guess what I'm getting at is, wouldn't it be easier just to replace the battery where it is since it needs to be replaced anyway?

According to this thread, the battery is in the trunk under the spare.

https://www.4xeforums.com/threads/changing-the-12v-battery-2023-gc4xe-anything-special-i-need-to-do.5386/

Vehicle is backed into the garage bay (only way I can get in due to geometry of the driveway).

Dealer says there’s a manual parking brake release so good there.

 

[sjbartnikowski]

> It's a Jeep defect they need to deal with and if I took care of it myself, then they'd have one less complaint, one less
> record and one less reason to move forward with fixes.

100%. I work in computer engineering, so unless you measure fail rates, no one is going to improve it. The other concern is what if another part in the system caused the battery drain? I don't think that's the case here, but I'm not an expert.

Otherwise, I'd be taking it to the mechanic down the street to pull and replace the battery.

 

[sjbartnikowski]

Given my capabilities, I would probably blow 3x normal hours required to install the battery and then it would still wind up at the dealer anyway.

The flatbed tow truck showed up this morning and was unable to get it into neutral to roll it out. So now I have to wait until tomorrow afternoon (schedule reasons) to get a wheel lift service.

Interestingly, the guy who came out connected a 1400a booster to it and the readout said ~11V. So either something is wrong with the Schumacher 6V/12V charger unit (it's saying it's a 6V battery and starting out at ~3.3V), or the battery is so dorked that it's messing with the Schumacher's ability to read the battery voltage. Thinking I should return it. Votes on whether the unit is faulty?

 

[sjbartnikowski]

Well first thing is to know your limitations LOL.

I would love to be able to talk to the flatbed driver and ask why he was not able to get the vehicle in the neutral, it's a pretty easy process.
Do you have any idea whether he was able to release the parking brake?
Do you know if he was able to locate the neutral pull strap? Or did he locate it and was not able to pull it? I am just really curious.
As far as the battery charger, I would probably get a third opinion LOL.
Maybe at some point somebody else will be able to check the battery and figure out what the voltage is. It's unlikely that a good quality charger is defective from the start but stranger things have happened.

Thanks! Driver didn't speak much English at all and my Spanish is no bueno, so I called it a day.

 

[sjbartnikowski]

He was messing with the driver-side left kick panel. I popped it open just now and there's a big read coin-slot cap sitting in the locked position. Does that thing just need to be turned to unlock?

A little concerned about this in the manual:
Front or rear wheel lifts must not be used (if the remaining wheels are on the ground). Internal damage to the transmission or transfer case will occur if a front or rear wheel lift is used when towing. Towing this vehicle in violation of the above requirements can cause severe transmission and/or transfer case damage. Damage from improper towing is not covered under the New Vehicle Limited Warranty.

But it should be fine to use wheel lifts to get it out of the garage and then put it on a flatbed?

 

[sjbartnikowski]

OK I'm going to say the tow driver didn't know what he was doing enough to release the neutral strap.

 

[sjbartnikowski]

Alright. After like 3 tow services rejected the job, one finally showed up that was competent.

• 3000A jump pack didn't do anything
• Measured at 4V
• Manual neutral engaged and rolled out of garage
• Loaded onto flatbed and towed to dealer

I gotta be honest. I knew Jeep wasn't the most reliable brand, but I didn't imagine it would be this unreliable. I got stuff to do, and I've realized I'm okay shelling out more money for a more reliable vehicle. Purchase cost, gas, or maintenance - take my money.

 

[sjbartnikowski]

Yeah to be clear this is not the first issue with this vehicle. We’re many issues in. Ordinarily a dead battery wouldn’t bother me.

 

[sjbartnikowski]

Update: dealer replaced the 12v battery and it still won't start.

 

[sjbartnikowski]

Just to close the saga on the 12V. Dealer tech was expecting vroom vrooms when starting it, so he thought there was still something wrong. But no, it was just the 12V. Tech didn’t know how the hybrids work.

 

[sjbartnikowski]

seriously? the tech didnt know how the 4xe worked?

No joke. Took half a business day for them to realize that.